CHAPTER 33
Steamship Authority Ferry Docks
Hyannis, Massachusetts
He answered to the name of David, but that was not his real name.
The man in Paris had sent him here to do a mission. David knew there were others, but he had never met any of them. Tonight that would change.
He had been living in Boston for the past twelve months, secretly rehearsing for this very night. He had repeatedly made the trip across the water, traveling on every boat that the company used to transport passengers to and from Nantucket. He knew every dimension, every function, of every vessel.
This evening, he would ride across on the Eagle. The oldest of the ferry fleet was also the easiest target.
David had proven himself useful many times before, yet in the thirty years he had lived, he had never felt as needed as he did tonight. The man in Paris demanded perfection, and David assured him that by Allah’s grace, it would be.
Chechen by birth, David had a talent for destruction. He was a bomb maker who could fashion the most unremarkable everyday items into projectiles that could kill or maim, depending on how he adjusted the formula.
Tonight he had only one job to do: sink the Hyannis ferry before it made its way into Nantucket Harbor.
David guided the U-Haul truck gingerly across the ferry ramp and found a parking spot beneath the passenger berths.
The guards at the security checkpoint never looked inside the cargo compartment.
If they did, however, they would have discovered nothing more than antique furniture, expertly packed to avoid damage in transit across Nantucket Sound.
Twenty minutes later, the last of fifty vehicles was loaded onto the ferry. The Eagle’s captain eased the throttles open and began the twenty-six-mile journey from Hyannis to Nantucket. The ride would last a little under two and a half hours.
David checked his watch. He had ninety minutes to wait.
He allowed himself to dream of his next assignment.
When this job was complete and he had proven his worth, his reward would be great.
He would join the others back across the ocean for the next wave of the battle against the Great Satan.
Perhaps he would be chosen to plan a new attack against the infidels.